Memoirs From the Asylum by Kenneth Weene

Not particularly a lover of nature, Danny leaves that task to the gardener. His neighbor, Harry Brown, is tending flowerbeds. It is carefully parked in a specific spot so that he can get maximum efficiency from the hose. Even the placement of the car is – to his mind – just right. Sponges, clean rags, a plastic pail, the garden hose, Turtle Wash and Wax, a Dust Buster, and finally cleaners for the glass, the vinyl, the leather upholstery, the chrome, and especially the tires – the car will not be to his liking until the tires gleam – not like new, but shining beyond newness. His equipment, too, is laid out carefully. His old tennis shoes go on his bare feet, and he feels like he is ready to go back in time and play Frisbee in Hollis Quad. He probably wouldn’t have anyway, but with it hanging out no one can see if the snap on his shorts has opened. He doesn’t tuck his Grateful Dead T-shirt in. He has to suck in his stomach to snap them shut, and they have long ago stopped feeling comfortable, but they represent his youth so he won’t throw them out. Danny always changes into his cutoff jeans, the last pair he has left from college. First they get ready, which starts with the right clothes.

People like Danny O’Brien don’t just wash their cars – they bathe them with deliberation. This is a book that will have you laughing, crying, and discussing. Set in a state hospital, Memoirs From the Asylum focuses on three main characters, a narrator, who has taken refuge from his terror of the world, a catatonic schizophrenic, whose mind lives within a crack in the wall opposite her bed, and a young psychiatrist, who is dealing with his own father’s depression. Recently released, Kenneth Weene’s new novel, Memoirs From the Asylum, is a comi-tragic tale of madness and sanity, of desperation and hope, of possibilities and fate. But they do not, and Widow’s Walk becomes a powerful tale of human pain and emotional conflict. If only things could always flow along with such ease. Theirs is a deep and meaningful love that gladdens the heart. And it is the story of her relationship with Arnie Berger, a man who is totally different in background, religion, and approach to life. It is also the story of her Irish roots and her immigration to America, her marriage, her husband’s life and death, and the lives of her two children. Widow’s Walk by Kenneth Weene tells the story of Mary Flanagan and her search for meaning, life, and love.

Memoirs From the Asylum by Kenneth Weene